Explanation:
Gliding through the sky on Wednesday evening, February 20th,
a first quarter Moon
seemed to run over bright planet
Saturn as viewed from much of North America.
In this sharp sequence of telescopic
digital images from the Powell Observatory
near Louisburg, Kansas, USA, Saturn is
seen reappearing
from behind the bright lunar limb over a period of about 2 minutes.
The ringed planet emerges above the
dark, smooth lunar
Mare
Crisium (Sea of Crises).
This lunar occultation was
widely
anticipated in part
because the ringed planet
and the brilliant Moon
are both spectacular celestial sights.
Now,
European sky gazers will have their turn as the Moon
occults the Solar System's largest planet, Jupiter in
early morning hours
on Saturday, February 23rd.